The Trouble With Health Problems Near Gas Fracking: NPR Interview

Read the article here.

If you go for a walk in the country and there are gas wells around,  can you feel safe?  Can you be sure that you won't inhale toxic chemicals or become contaminated in some way while you are strolling by? This story tells of a woman from Parachute, Colorado,  who became very ill while working on her property in 2005.  She didn't think about the connection to gas wells until she began talkng to some of her neighbors.  They had problems, too, in some cases.  Now she believes the gas drilling was the cause of her illness.  We simply do not have enough data yet to be sure we are safe from negative gas drilling effects.  Until we have data, we can assume we are at risk.

In loving memory of my Dad

The Reverend Robert F. Shippee

November 29, 1922-September 29, 2010

He loved the Earth and opposed natural gas drilling until his dying day.

Frozen Waterfall of Fracking Fluid

A frozen "waterfall" of drilling fluids was visible near Parachute, Colorado, in February 2008. The state says 1.6 million gallons of fracturing fluids leaked from a pit, was transported by groundwater, and ended up seeping out of the cliff. (Colorado Department of Natural Resources)

According to state records, the spill migrated underground until it seeped from a cliff side and froze into a gray pillar of ice more than 200 feet tall. When it melted, the fluids dripped into the torrid currents of Parachute Creek and finally dumped into the Colorado River.

Leaks are common on well pads. Sludge pits are one of the most common locations of leaks. Gas drilling is a very messy business. There is a huge price to pay for getting shale gas out of the earth.

Click here to read a ProPublica article published in December 2008.


[Thanks to www.un-naturalgas.org for this photo.]